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Wednesday, 14 June 2017

It's been a while since I have posted and that is because during the summer months my garden seems to take up most of my time. I am constantly amazed at how my garden has flourished from winter bleakness, to the new shoots of spring and now that summer is here, an abundance of blooms. And of course with all the rain we have had mixed in with the sunshine the weeds have also flourished with a vengeance. I just can't keep on top of them and my garden often seems an arduous business a lot like painting the Forth Rail Bridge - a never ending task which only seems to diminish when Autumn arrives and I can gradually turn my back on the garden as winter approaches without feeling guilty. I have to say I am very much a fine weather gardener but for now am taking lots of pleasure from my garden and every time I go and peg out the washing there seems to be a new flower in bloom and I can never resist dashing inside for my camera to take a few snaps....

The Geums I planted last year from small plugs are looking magnificent and just seem to keep on blooming.

Love these giant Oriental Poppies but they are always quite short lived and all the rain we have had has not done them any favours. The seed heads though once all the petals have dropped off look attractive and this year my aim is to harvest the seeds.

Geranium 'Wargrave Pink' puts on a magnificent display and is ideal as ground cover.

Another hardy Geranium ideal as ground cover. I think this is x Magnificum.

The wonderful Digitalis (Foxglove) spires give architecture to a border and look so pretty but beware as they are oh so poisonous especially to cats and dogs.

Love this cushion forming alpine Saxifrage which I will plant out in my rockery after it finishes flowering.

The bees love feasting on the blackberry flowers.

My first every gooseberries. I bought this bush last year and was looking forward to baking a gooseberry crumble but disappointingly not a huge harvest. Still quite a young plant so hope for better things next year.

Photo of the Violas taken a few weeks ago but sadly not at their best now. They always remind me of traditionally dressed Japanese Geishas. My garden always inspires me to get out my paints and do some watercolours. I am a huge fan of mother and daughter textile artists Linda and Laura Kemshall and on Linda's blog she has been busy painting the flowers in her garden in a concertina sketchbook. I too have a concertina sketchbook that's been lying around with blank white pages for far too long so with that in mind I am determined to set aside an hour or so each week to fill it with watercolours of the flowers in my garden. In between all the gardening that is!

About Me

I am a textile and mixed-media artist who uses embroidery and the art of the stitch to explore the everyday lives of women and how women cope in today's mad world; the stresses, strains and minutiae of life at home and at work.
I use vintage pieces of household linen and fabrics combined with free-machine embroidery to create quilts and one-off pieces.
I graduated from Solihull College with a BA in Fine Art in 2012.
I belong to the the Solihull Embroiderers, the Solihull Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild.